Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Scott Russell guided his Honda Hurricane to second behind Thomas Stevens in the C Production Expert class at Talladega. Scott Gray picked up victories in the 600 and 760cc Stock Production classes at the AFM Road Race held at Sears Point Raceway. Gra, scores at Sears Point RR By Karenlynne Bradley SONORA, CA, APR. 19 The American Federation of Motorcyclists' unofficial Easter Parade took place at Sears Point International Raceway. Scott Gray capa61y led the parade in the 750cc Stock Production class, and was never offered any serious competition by fellow contenders lain Pero, Jeff Hagan, and Jim Jepsen. A novice official delayed the start and several racers jumped the start, however, only Jepsen was docked a lap and his fourth place finish was nullified. Predictably, Gray finished first, Peri> ~cond, and Hagan third. Rod Smith took an early lead in the Formula Two race, but was passed by Steve Wickland and Dave Avery during the second lap. Don Greene, the reigning AMA F-2 Champion was on hand in the pits, but did not compete in this class. Wickland maintamed his Jead until lap five when he was passed by Avery, who went on to take the win. Wickland finished second, and Smith was third. AFM number 3, Pat Ryan, led off in the F-l event, but was hotly' pursued by Kim Jester and Mike Hunter. Ryan dropped back steadily and pulled off after four laps with a broken gearbox. Hunter and Jester swapped' the lead back and forth several times until the final lap, when Jester crashed in tum eightA. Hunter took the checkered flag as the red flag was thrown, followed by Jeremy Anson and Eric Elvin. Under AFM rules, standings revert back to the last completed lap, so officially the win went to Jester, with Hunter in second, and Ronald Raya in third. The 750cc and Open Modified Production classes were run simultaneously, with Chris Crew leading Armin Zipperle and Dan Bums for two laps in. the 750cc class. Meanwhile, Rick Liukkonen had moved up too fast in the Open class that the announcers missed his presence completely, assuming that second~lace Marty Siegel was ~tually. in first place. It wasn't unnl' the third lap that the announcing team realized its mistake, and by that time Liukkonen was well into the pack of 750 riders with Seigel in second starting to move into the 750 pack and John Brubaker in third. ' Further forward, Burns moved into second place in the 750cc class and Mike Edmonson moved into third, forcing Zipperle back into fourth. Edmo~son continued his forward momentum, taking over first place where he and Crew played tag for the remainder of the race. When the flag dropped Edmonson had the win followed by Crew in second, and Bums in third. The results in the Open class were not surprising, with Liukkonen taking the checkered flag first, followed by Seigel in second and Brubaker in third. The second big money race of the day, the 600cc Stock Production brought out the Honda Hurricanes, who have been leaving the Yamaha FZs in the dust since Daytona. Peter Wensloff led the group up the hill toward turn two followed by Mike Johnson and Gray. Johnson quickly took over the lead. At the bottom of the carousel, Gray darted inside, outside and inside again to move into second behind Johnson. He didn't make his move to take over first place until the second lap, but imme· diately opened up an Impressive lead that only Johnson attempted to take over. It was a futile effort, though, and Gray was more than formidable as he turned 1:50s on his stock Hurricane. Johnson could not maintain even the second place position, and gradually dropped back behind Wensloff and then Greene. It was an easy victory for Gray with Wensloff taking second and Greene third. The Open Stock Production race was immediately after the 600 race and Gray prefers it that way. He was challenged by the New Zealander Pero, who's getting pretty tired of following Gray around the track. Pero, who crashed during the 600 race but finished in fifth place after picking up his bike and continuing on, intended to win this one. Predictably, Gray took an early lead followed by Rick liukkonen and Jeff Hagan. Hagan took over second place at the bottom of the carousel, but Gray once again stretched out a lead. Hagan went out in the second lap at tum one and Pero moved up to take over second place. During lap three, Gray had trouble with his front tire and went off in tum six uninjured. Steve Crevier moved up past Liukkonen and Pero to take over the lead. During the balance of the race, Pero and Crevier swapped the lead back and forth half a dozen times. It was Pero who took the checkered flag for his first win in America, followed by Crevier in second and Liukkonen in third. Results F-4: 1.WfIIl-v Mailltino (K8w); 2. Raben Hollilt.r (Hon~ 3. Roger Kircher (GT Jr). OPEN GP: 1. Roneld R-ve (Suz~ 2. Phillip Ktea (S~ 3. R.ndy Redmond (Suzi. F-2: 1. 0 - Aver, (Hont 2. Sl8phen W _ (C-Al; 3. Rod Smith (Y.ml. F-l: 1. Kim.-- fS~ 2. M _ HUblrJHont 3. Roneld ~ (Suz). F·S: 1. Denny Doherty fAlle); 2. John Kirk (Hon~ 3. Eron FIory.(Hon). F-T·750: 1. RIIndo1ph 0ec:Ur (Y.mt 2. Aeron R _ (Duct 3. Devid Gibbona (Yam). F-T-OPEN: 1. Norman W i _ (Y.m~ 2. Nick H.yman (Moaot 3. S _ Holt fSuZ). 260 MOD JlROD: 1. WfIIl-v Malallno CKewt 2. D.vkt Pere (K.wj; 3. Joe MDI1loya (Kew). 460 MOD PROD: 1. J.rt McCabe (Yam~ 2. Mark (Yam). McDaniel (Y.mt 3, W-vne BOO MOD PROD: 1. PIllar W-'oIf (Yamt 2. Joe Bren Williams (Hont 3. Ji~ -:=.(Yam). 760 MOD PROD: 1. Mite _ , (S~ 2. Chril Cr_ (S~ 3. D.n Bums (Suz). OPEN MOD PROD: 1. Rick Uukkonen (Suz); 2. Marty S . I (S~ 3. John IIrubeIlar (Yam~ 460 S/ST: 1. Blaine Ide (Y.m~ 2. Thoma MonIano (Ylmt 3. J...... Lubin (Y.m). BOO S/ST: 1. Michael Johnaon (Hont 2. Glen ShoD/ler (Kewt 3. ChriltOpher M_ (Yam). 760 S/ST: 1. Jeff H_n (Suz~ 2. Stephen Crevier (ylm); 3. GI.n Shaph.r (Kew). . OPEN S/ST: 1. Bob VI. .in (Hont 2. Chuck Balow (S~ 3. Rliph lo«Io (Kew). 450 STK PROD: 1. Jeffrey Mc:Cebe (Y.mt 2. Eric Kondo (Ylmt 3. w..".. ~ (Ylm). BOO STK PROD: 1. Scott Gray (Hon~ 2. PIllar Wenslofl (Hont 3. Don G..... fHon). 760 STK PROD: 1. Seem Gr-V (Suz); 2. I.in Pero (S~ 3. Jeff H_n (Suz). OPEN STK PROD: 1. I.in Pero (Suzt 2. Stephen e.-r (Yam); 3. Rick UuIdlonen (Suz). OVER 40: 1. Denny Doherty (Ylm~ 2. Rendy Radmond (Suz); 3. PIllar Munro (Suzi. V1NT: 1. Crllg Mclaan (MlItt 2. Din Phillipa (BSA); 3. David froe1Khler (Aw). 260 STK PROD: 1. R.y Strike (Kew);.2. R-vmond Zech n(K8w); 3. Alfred Ilayona (Kew). em.-. Mann aces BifhIoMX By Diane Eller BITHLO, FL, MAR. 22 Bobby Mann took the victory in the 125cc A class at round one of the Qualifying Series for the Tampa Amateur Supercross. Mann topped both motos to claim first overall honors ahead of Gary Paul. Mann darted off the line first in moto one only to fall in the first tum and drop back to last place. Harold Mathews took the lead with Paul a close second. By the end of the first lap Mann had sliced his way into third place and was within striking distance of the lead duo. When the white flag came out Paul had moved into the lead, with Mathews a close second and Mann a hard-charging third. All three riders remained in tight formation as they moved through the last lap. Mann quickly disposed of Mathews and was up to second place, challenging Paul for the lead. Mann stuffed past Paul just before the checkers to steal the moto win, Paul took second and Mathews was third. In moto two Mann was quick off the line again and managed to stay on two wheels as he led the pack into turn one. Mann had no trouble pulling away to a good-sized lead and left Mathews Paul to battle over the second place spot. Near the ana midway point of the moto Mathews had bike problems and DNF, At moto's end it was Mann with the win and the overall victory. Paul was .second and second overall, while Chris Marlin rounded out the top three overall. Results 250 C: 1. Tim P.ngburn; 2. S _ Kay: 3. Dominick D'Annl; 4. Andr.w Flult; 5. Mik. Schren. 260 B: 1. P.l Mclain; 2. Todd Girdner; 3. Scott Labenge; 4. Rick Crum; 5. O.vid Kuxhlueen. 8510-13: 1. Tim Ferry; 2. ChriIBrown; 3. S _ En.r; 4. Bryen Lilt; 5. Robb Willhaw. B5 14-15: 1. Dery! Youngblood; 2. Ryan Dean; 3. Jerry Holcomb; 4. Anthony 5. John Lake. 125 B: 1. Adem Smith; 2. Miii'cua Pedrera; 3. Cha.... N . . - ; 4. Seem ~ 5. Jeff Lampe. 125 C: 1. Mik. ~ 2. Max Syat; 3. Mike Taylor; 4. Eddie Cherry; 5. Jerry Ciccona. 125 A: 1. Ilobby Mann; 2. Gary Peul; 3. Chril Martin; 4. Kerl Krichbaum. 260/500 A: 1. Eddie Wilburn; 2. Ilobby M.nn; 3. Robin Doelm.n; 4. Tim E./y. OPEN B/C: 1. Rich Perry; 2. Scott Teylor; 3. Jeff Rlltr.lIi. +25: 1. Tim P.nburn; 2. George Munson. SR: 1. Steve Dixon; 2. Bill Lehlio; 3. AI G.rdn.r; 4. D.vid Brown; 5. P.ul Lauon. "-io; Stevens wins Taladega RR and sets record By Cindy Bowen TALLADEGA,AL,AP~19 Thomas Stevens celebrated Easter Sunday by setting a new counterclockwise track record and taking home four wins on his Speed and Sport Cycle-backed Suzuki GSXR750 and Honda CBR600. The most exciting race of the day was B Production where Stevens diced with expert Scott Russell for the entire race. Russell led the first three laps on his Griffin Suzuki/ Cycle Mart/Dunlop-backed Suzuki GSXR750 with Stevens close at his heels. Stevens passed Russell on lap four, but Russell stayed close behind with Ron Ewenh and Donnie Rowe battling for third. On the final lap, Russell passed Stevens for the lead, but held that only briefly as Stevens inched past him in the last tum for the win. . C Production and C Superbike were a repeat of B Production with Stevens battling with Russell in both classes, and with Stevens.taking both wins. The real battle in C Production was for third with Rentzell and Ewerth running virtually side-by· side the entire race. Ewerth eventually finished' third behind Stevens and Russell with Rentzell finishing fourth. Rentzell switched to his Suzuki GSXR750 for B Superbike and he and Stevens pulled away from the Wick on the second lap with a comfortable lead. Rentzdl easily took the win with Stevens second and Donnie Rowe third. Rentzell also took the checkers in Formula One with Stevens second. The battle in Formula Two was between Cam Roos on his FZR400

• Cover